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History
The Creatures series of games has had a long and convoluted history. This page is dedicated to it, in particular the events surrounding the companies involved in their production: Millennium, Cyberlife, Creature Labs, Entraline and Gameware. A good overview (albeit with a few unsurprising ommissions) is provided in: * A potted history of Creature Labs and Gameware Development (the official story). Large amounts of this timeline were derived from Steve Grand's notes. Many thanks to Steve for providing this resource to the community! Timeline of Events to be filled in - don't feel you have to restrict yourself to official doings, axnything that has interest to the community is fine:-) Pre-1992 *'Late 1986/Early 1987': Steve Grand is inspired by his reading of The Planiverse: Computer Contact With a Two-Dimensional World (Amazon UK, Amazon US; at time of writing, probably a lot cheaper to buy from the US!) and suggests Creatures to his employers as an educational game - but there is no interest *'1988': Steve Grand suggests Creatures to the new startup, Millennium - again, to little interest *'1990': Millennium release Hoverforce, Horror Zombies from the Crypt and Thunderstrike *'1991': Millennium release Virtual Reality, Volume 2, Stormball, The Adventures of Robin Hood and James Pond 2: Codename: RoboCod (which makes a return 12 years later as James Pond: RoboCod) 1992 *'1992': Millennium release Cyber Empires, The Aquatic Games, Daughter of Serpents and Rome AD 92 *'September 1992': Creatures is 'officially' concieved, although it will take years to develop fully into the game we know today. From Tips.txt: :The initial ideas for this project were conceived on a motel balcony in Winthrop, WA, USA in September 1992. *'4 November 1992': Steve Grand writes A Mouse for Windows *'16 November 1992': Steve Grand writes Little Computer Ewoks *'23 December 1992': Steve Grand writes Ewoks techie bit for proposal 1993 *'1993': Millennium release James Pond 3: Operation Starfish *'8 March 1993': Steve Grand writes Small Furry Creatures: A Mythography (first use of Small Furry Creatures as title), which contains the first details of the Journey, Grendels (although not as we know them today), Ettins (even dumber than they turned out) and the Shee (Siðe) *'1 June 1993': First available notes from Steve Grand's programming diary - very interesting reading *'18 July 1993': Steve Grand writes the first fragments of a Creatures-themed novella, Wulf's Journey, creating the first Creatures fan-fiction over two years before the game was actually released *'12 December 1993': Steve Grand explains that the mythology is intended for background purposes, not as an actual plotline: :I never intended Creatures to be an adventure game or have a fixed plot at all - the idea was that you would create your own stories . . . But everyone had interpreted my mythography stuff far too literally, and people were trying to make Creatures into some kind of Norse adventure game . . . :GreenReaper's thought: '"Viking Creatures: Norns with Horns!"'' 1994 *'''6 July 1994: Michael Hayward decides that the game needs more time to mature and that Steve Grand should "take the game out of the schedule" (see the diary entry) :GreenReaper: I think this was a very important decision - without the extra time for correct positioning and reworking, Creatures would never have been the game it turned out to be. Heck, it was still for DOS back then, and bibble hadn't even been concieved! :-) :It is also interesting to note the features described as possible for the rewrite, many of which would not be fully realized until Creatures 3 or Docking Station: Decided to add 5 months to schedule; more gratuitous graphics; more facial expressions; new norns (monkeylike); everybody’s norn is unique; complete rethink and rewrite of code; add hooks for extensions; allow norns to travel from one person’s system to another, via disc or modem; buy new norns; possible speech in/out. *'1 August 1994': The Cheat menu is added *'10 October 1994': Plans for DDE support are finalized, laying the foundations for external tools to communicate with Creatures *'14 November 1994': Michael Hayward first demonstrates the Creatures prototype to Warner Interactive, who liken its breadth of appeal to that of the first spreadsheet, Visicalc *'20 November 1994': Cyberlife is set up to develop and exploit Steve Grand's ideas 1995 *'23 Janurary 1995': Steve Grand has the idea of making clay model of the Creatures environment and digitising it; Mark Rafter agrees a few days later, and begins work on the model *'Mid 1995': Cyberlife agrees a publishing deal with Warner Interactive and a advance of £1m is paid representing an estimated 200,000 units of sales; in fact, over half a million copies of the Creatures will eventually be sold *'19 July 1995': Creatures finally has a complete design definition - as with most software development projects, it required actually building most of the program to fully define it . . . 1996 *'10:50 am, 21 March 1996': The first norn ever bred in captivity was born. He was called Cain, son of Ron and Eve. *'22 April 1996': The twin spectres of disease and bacteria are introduced to Creatures *'11 November 1996': Creatures is released 1997 *'July 1997': The PS1 divison of Cyberlife is sold to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, along with 60 of the 80 jobs at the company. *'24 July 1997': Creatures is released in the USA by Mindscape 1998 *'22 May 1998': Toby Simpson states that Creatures 2 will be released "early Q3 this year" in From Creatures to Androids: An Interview with Toby Simpson of CyberLife *'1 September 1998': Creatures 2 is released by Mindscape *'Late 1998': Cyberlife officially splits into three departments - Applied Research (defense projects), the Cyberlife Institute (research and development) and Creature Labs (entertainment); of the three, only Creature Labs lasts more than a year *'12 December 1998': Frimlin's Kiwi Creatures wins the Golden Shee Awards, being voted the Most Popular Creatures Site; Ping came second with CreaturesLife.net 1999 *'January 1999': Francis Irving joins Creature Labs *'June 1999': Ben Gonshaw joines Creatures Labs *'14 July 1999': Creature Labs becomes the first computer game developer to be awarded the ISO 9001 TickIT certification *'7 October 1999': Creatures Adventures is released by Mindscape *'November 1999': The Applied Research department is closed, Cyberlife officially begins calling itself Creature Labs, and Steve Grand leaves Cyberlife; the Cyberlife Institute closes with his departure *'1 November 1999': Creatures 3 is released in the USA by Mindscape *'20 November 1999': First patch for Creatures 3 is released *'12 December 1999': CreaturesLife.net notes that an add-on to Creatures 3 is in the works - "Currently named 'docker' it allows you to dock to C3 spaceships." 2000 *'Janurary 2000': PC Gamer (Feb edition) notes that there is likely to be a "Creatures 3.5 - Docking station", scheduled for Q3 2000 *'18 Janurary 2000': Creature Labs appoints a new CEO, Chris McKee *'23 February 2000': Creature Labs announces the development of Beasts: :"Beasts" is an exciting new game from Creature Labs based on the mysterious wilderness monster known as the Abominable Snowman or Yeti, tracks of which have been discovered in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Tibet. According to locals, the Yeti is but one of several unidentified creatures that occupy the highlands of southern Asia. Accounts of another giant known as Sasquatch or Bigfoot have persisted among some American Indians whose tribes inhabited the forests of the Pacific Northwest." *'10 April 2000': Creature Labs announce the development of Sea-Monkey Marina (subsequently entitled "The Amazing Virtual Sea-Monkeys") - CL Publishing Director Howard Newmark states that: :"As long-time fans and admirers of the Sea-Monkey phenomenon, we have always felt that a Sea-Monkey title based on our CyberLife technology would be a great success. We're very pleased to be associated with such a huge brand and we're looking forward to doing it justice with a superb product." *'14 July 2000': Prior head of Our Price and Waterstones David Clipsham joines Creature Labs as chairman *'15 September 2000': Creature Labs sign deals for the Snowman Interactive Storybook with UK publisher FastTrak and French distributor Emme and with SWING! Entertainment for Creatures GBA and the GameCube *'October 2000': Venture captial specialists 3i Group and Foresight Technology VCT invest £2.5m in Creature Labs in convertible loan stock, almost all of which will subsequently be writen off *'2 November 2000': Creatures Trilogy is released by Encore Software in the US *'3 November 2000': Les Edgar is appointed to the board of directors *'11 November 2000': Creatures Playground is released by Havas Interactive in Europe, Encore Software in the US and Canada *'17 November 2000': Graeme Williams joins Creature Labs *'4 December 2000': Andrea Ciolini and Dominique Whitman join Creature Labs 2001 *'24 Janurary 2001': Ian Konrath joins Creature Labs as CFO - Chris McKee says that: :"Ian has the right background - first-hand experience of guiding a company through an IPO, successfully negotiating venture capital and credit lines, and actively working with analysts and the financial community. His proven track record in strategic planning and financial management make him ideally suited to support our growth and corporate development" *'13 February 2001': Toby Simpson and Ben Simpson leave Creature Labs to form Nicely Crafted; they will be joined by Mark Ashton and Robert Dickson in late 2002 *'1 March 2001': Creature Labs re-announce the development of Beasts as a real-time strategy game *'27 March 2001': Creature Labs announce the release of Docking Station, which *'May 2001': Creatures Labs and subsiduaries have 70 employees *'25 June 2001': Creatures Internet Edition is released *'4 July 2001': David Worlock is appointed a non-executive director of Creature Labs *'August 2001': Directors at Creatures Labs realise they are running low on money again and begin searching for new funding options *'October 2001': Creatures Labs release Ms. Pac Man: Quest for the Golden Maze, Amazing Virtual Sea-Monkeys and DIG DUG Deeper about now *'November 2001': Ben Gonshaw leaves Creature Labs *'7 December 2001': Creatures PS1 is released in Europe by Swing! Entertainment Media AG 2002 *'11 January 2002': Creatures GBA is released in Europe by Swing! Entertainment Media AG *'February 2002': Lisa de Araujo stops work on Beasts (by now called Yeren) *'8 February 2002': Creatures GBA is released in the US by Conspiracy Entertainment *'Early 2002': Sent: This isn't an exact date, although it's a little bit of information that other community members might not know about. HomeCreatures was eventually closed down as it was inactive. There was originally a merge that was meant to take place between Creatures Creations and HomeCreatures. The merge started going underway with Tim, myself and other Creations staff members having access to the HC databases, although with there being a few problems (I believe it was with the MGON staff, although I can't be sure) the merge never really took place and eventually HC closed it's doors. *'April 2002': Creature Labs steps up talks with 3i to secure further funding in order to avoid a cashflow crisis. Previous funding from this and other sources has raised £7m. *'25 April 2002': Wealthy co-founder of Bullfrog Productions Les Edgar is rumoured to be interested in purchasing Creature Labs, 3i having pulled out after conducting further due-dilligence on current management *'May 2002': 3i is not willing to accept the executive board's recomendation that Creature Labs be sold to board memebers for £75,000 when it had invested £2.5m just 18 months ago, and new options are demanded *'14 May 2002': Creatures: Raised in Space for the PS1 is released by Conspiracy Entertainment *'27 May 2002': An extraordinary general meeting is held, presided over by Creature Labs chief executive Chris McKee in which options to save the jobs at the company (numbering somewhere between 50 and 43) are discussed; a new company holding is subsequently formed with an infusion of £400,000 in addition to the £75,000 previously offered, but shareholders who fought hard to preserve their interest in the company predict that with a prior "burn rate" of £2m in 15 months: :"if the management doesn’t improve and the business made more commercial it could be back in trouble very soon" *'June 2002': Creature Labs officially changes its name to Entraline Limited - Cyberlife Technology Ltd remains its operating subsidiary *'12 July 2002': The adapted Atari game Warlords is released *'13 September 2002': Francis Irving leaves Cyberlife; his friends buy him a digital camera as a going-away present *'20 September 2002': Creatures Gold is released by Focus Software *'16 October 2002': The Banshee Grendels are relased for Docking Station 2003 *'28 February 2003': Ashley Harman (aka Frimlin) leaves Cyberlife - as he packs up on the 20th he has this to say: :It was a bit odd to be standing in the centre of the Creature Labs office, packing away the cute stuffed toy Norns and Grendels I've accumulated from fellow Creatures fans. As I looked around the office, there were no other Norns to be seen. But it's been steadily more and more like that over the last couple of years -- I should have been used to it. But the moment spoke to me, all the same. *'March 2003': Entraline directors Chris McKee, Ian Konrath, Howard Newmark and Ian Saunter decided liquidation is inevitable after all hopes for major new contracts fail *'3 April 2003': Docking Station servers are turned off *'15 April 2003': Entraline/Cyberlife is liquidated subsequent to its final extraordinary general meeting - reasons cited include insolvency of their German publishing partners and a poor outlook in the general gaming industry; shareholders tack on "poor management" *'28 April 2003': It is revealed by Business Weekly that in addition to sums owed to investors 3i, NW Brown, Hermann Hauser and Peter Dawe, the former Entraline owed £75,000 to its administrators plus £200,000 to the Inland Revenue, and that the employees had been working for the last three months without pay; one investor reportedly said: :"We have heard the management team may try to make a case for buying the assets. If this does turn out to be the case, messing up a business, trashing all the debts and keeping the assets does not seem right. This company collapsed because of the management’s lack of management and sales skills. One hopes they will emerge from this debacle empty-handed."'' *'''7 June 2003: Mark Stamps gets the first core Docking Station server back online *'18 June 2003': Docking Station user registration re-opens *'3 July 2003': Gameware Europe is formally announced as the purchaser of assets and intellectual property rights of Cyberlife after rumours from former CL staff - CEO Jeremy Cooke claims to be "dedicated, not only to the continuing development of the innovative Creatures series, but also toward the ongoing creation of these uniquely entertaining A.I. concepts for television and mobile-phones" and notes that there were "many excellent UK studios hit hard by the present market conditions" - our first priority is to get the Internet-based offering, Creatures Docking Station, back on-line and assure the loyal fan-base of our intention to continue to provide them with entertaining Creatures concepts *'October 2003': Official Gameware websites begin to come online *'14 November 2003': Gameware announces the use of its toolkit in the upcoming CBBC show BAMZOOKi, which is scheduled for release in March 2004 *'December 2003': Gameware release James Pond: RoboCod, and also opens up various tools and Life Kits for free download 2004 *'August 2004': Gameware releases Creatures: The Albian Years *'October 2004': Gameware releases Creatures Exodus and Creatures Village *'30 December 2004': The Creatures Wiki is launched; within one week, 500 pages have been written 2005